Thursday, December 1, 2016

Trade Workers Aging out of Profession

Trade Workers Aging Out of Profession
By: Morgan Hanson


American high school seniors are right now in the process of figuring out what they are going to do with the rest of their lives; college, military, work? Although, it is projected that a majority of this years graduating class will be attending college in the fall, you rarely hear students now saying that they are going into the trades, those such as, welding, electrical, plumbing, and mechanics. Although, the demand for these jobs is high, the interest in them is not, most students don’t think that they would be able to make enough money in a trade position. In this day in age, it has been said that an undergraduate degree could be considered the equivalent of a high school diploma. For today’s students, “....a college degree used to equal an entry level salaried position after graduation,....a college degree [now] typically earns an hourly position that reports to the salaried position - one level lower than pre-2008” (Farrington 1). Meaning that if going to a 2-year university to earn a trades degree, you would be making less than a person who went to a 4-year university, which right now has the lowest wage, this generation is deciding that, “....trade school is a waste of time” (Farrington 2), which could also mean an even bigger drop in the lives of the middle class as a lot of these jobs are associated with unions, most of the men and women who worked in the trades fields in the late 70’s and 80’s, where members of their work unions. According to the graph above, the number of union memberships between 1967 and 2012 dropped steadily, and with that the middle-class’ share of the nation’s income dropped as well. Meaning, that without more kid’s going to school for the trades, and most of the trade workers nearing retirement age within the next couple of years, the middle class could take another large hit.

Another large problem is that with the help of machines an has resulted in an incline in production and a decline in manufacturing jobs. This is another large reason that a lot of middle class American’s are running away from trades employment in order to make sure that their marginal cost of going to college and getting a degree, doesn’t outweigh their marginal benefit of getting paid at the end of the day, and if they are going to go to school for trade and pay the money and then be told that a machine can do their job better than them and get laid off then it really wasn’t worth the money.



A lot of people are saying that the middle class is “failing” do to the lack of trades workers present in the work force. Most of my family graduated in the 70’s, and most of them didn’t go to college, not because they couldn’t afford it, but because back then it wasn’t necessary. The opportunity cost of not going to college, and instead going straight into trade work, paid off for them, as most of them now have been working for the same company for 40 years, and are all about the age that they are going to retire. But, with the already scarce number of skilled trades workers, we are nearing a pivotal point where skilled trades professionals may no longer exist at all, “in 2012, 53 percent of skilled-trade workers in the U.S. were 45 years and older….and 18.6 percent were between the ages of 55 and 64” (Wright 1). Thus, meaning that if more young people don’t take up interests in trade work, when the 72% of the trades fields employees choosing to retire there is no longer going to be a trades workforce, as they are all going to be gone, which could cause real trouble for the United States economy.


Bibliography

“A College Degree is the New High School Diploma.” Forbes. N.p., 2014. Web. 29 Sep. 2014.

“Americans Skilled Trades Dilemma Shortages Loom as Most in Demand Group of Workers Ages.” Forbes. N.p., 2013. Web. 07 Mar. 2013.

@LOLGOP. "5 Ways Conservatives Make Workers Poorer, Sicker, And More Dependent On Government." The National Memo. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.







6 comments:

  1. As someone who is going into the work force to become a welder, all I ever hear from other people is that there isn't a lot of people becoming welders or electricians. Every time I have ever told someone that I becoming a steamfitter they have told me that it is a smart choose which it is since no body is becoming these things their in very high demand.

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  2. I totally agree that there has been a significant decrease in the number of graduating high school seniors who are looking into the trades. It is obviously very important that these positions do end up getting filled. I think part of the reason why less and less young people are heading in that direction is due to how teachers and parents put such emphasis on the importance of getting a college degree. It’s pretty much all we hear about in the four years of high school. For some students school just isn’t for them and they learn a lot better by just getting into the work field. The trades are a good outlet for these students and it’s important they are aware of all their options.

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  3. I agree with Morgan. I think that everyone should try and go to at least a two year college to get more education. I think that it would help people get more experience in the field that they want to enter. I think that people would not only feel better about themselves but it would also get many an increase in their pays.

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  4. I have been taking tech classes throughout high school now, and we always have guest speakers come in that stress the need for young people to fill these jobs in the trades. However, Pewaukee is very white-collared, and even though trades provides a great opportunity, most high school graduates don't want to have to work with their hands all their life. On a different note, industrial robots have been filling those manufacturing roles, but there will also always be a demand for people to maintain those robots.

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  5. After reading your post today it really made me start to think a little bit. If people don't start to go back into the workforce as tradesman in specialty trades then we are going to have nobody doing this job. Schooling is important in today's age, but for what reason? All we are doing as paying college students is supplying money to schools that don't need it. Being smart in your profession is important yes, but, going to school for four years only to use about 10% of the knowledge learned is truly just a waste of money and time.

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